It really pisses me off when conservatives claim that the
energy crisis is because of California's desire to conserve
resources and not trash the environment, instead of the
obvious cause: an almost religious belief that because the
western world won the Cold War, extreme capitalism is the
ultimate answer, and we should privatize even basic utilities
like electricity.

I have yet to see a clear line of cause and effect drawn from
environmentalism and conservation to massive power shortages.
But I've seen several very thoughtful articles on how the
rush to deregulate everything in a fit of capitalistic zeal
caused the power crisis to be nearly inevitable.

Of course, it's easy for conservatives to paint broad strokes
and say "since California is having trouble, it must be
because of their differences, like their belief in green
causes". Logic becomes irrelevant, but this is nothing new
to extreme-right arguments. I'm just annoyed that they keep
repeating them, hoping they'll become more convincing with
every retread.

I'm not a liberal. I want lower taxes, a smaller government,
and more local autonomy. But by turning the power crisis
into a California vs. US fight, the east-coast government has
completely alienated me. And probably most other California
moderates.